Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time

Emily Windsnap #9

by Liz Kessler, Erin Farley (Illustrator)

Emily Windsnap must travel through time in order to save the people of her hometowns -- both human and merfolk -- in the exciting ninth book of the New York Times best-selling series.

When Emily makes a wish on a magic stone, she gets a glimpse of what the future holds -- and it's a disaster! She tries to make things right, but each trip through time takes Emily to a future where things turn out badly for either the humans of Brightport or the merpeople of Shiprock. Plastic pollutes the ocean, garbage overflows the landfills, and the two towns are no longer getting along. Emily realizes she can't save her hometown and the ocean alone, but with help from her best friends, Shona and Mandy, she'll have to find a way to get humans and merpeople to work together. Will Emily be able to create a better future for everyone, including herself? This new adventure gives readers a glimpse at what Emily and her friends could be like as grown-ups, with a fresh story that explores how uniting communities can make a future that's bright for everyone.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Adventure, Mermaids, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2020

About the author

Liz Kessler is the author of three novels about Philippa Fisher as well as the NEW YORK TIMES best-selling Emily Windsnap series. She lives in Manchester, England.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Aaron :( Heart broke💔

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss the cool pirate girls :( Emily and Mandy living together tho...

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily Windsnap is half mer/half human. She visits and has friends in both worlds, but her home is on a boat on the pier in Brightport. Her best friend, mermaid Shona, lives in Shiprock. When Emily finds a magic shell, she makes a wish to save Brightport. The town is getting rundown and tourism is at a low. Fast forward 20 years and Emily is shocked to see that her wish has destroyed Shiprock. Trying to correct her mistake, she makes another wish that the ocean won't be destroyed and guess what happens. Making a wish without a plan in place, will end up hurting someone. I enjoyed this story about pollution and destroying the earth whether it is plastic in the ocean or landfills on earth. This is a great story to see how every action has a reaction and plans need to be put into place and followed. Friendship also comes into play in the story and working together. Emily is a great character for middlegrades students to identify with. She has all the same problems as all kids, especially when dealing with friends and those issues that cause problems. There are not a lot of illustrations in the chapter book, but enough to add to the story. I recommend this book and series to middlegraders, especially those who enjoy mermaids.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This nine-book series is extremely imaginative. Children are the target audience, but I'd call it a series of family books. If there can be family movies, then why not family books?

[Sara Esa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book and the whole series, this series was really good

[Adeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing so sweetly satisfying as a mermaid tale perfectly spun by a deserving author! Getting this far into the series, many authors would have given up and not have been able to come up with more fantastic plots. But somehow this genius author put something that fascinates us all... Time travel. Liz Kessler has mixed in time travel perfectly, and not only that. She gives us a wonderful view on trash pollution in our land, ocean, and beaches and how it needs to be stopped through fantasy and fiction. This book is a true masterpiece in the Emily Windsnap series, and I applaud Liz Kessler as a talented author.

[Jay_Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was a wonderful book. It makes me want to help clean up the oceans and beaches. And I will start looking into ways to do just that. I hope Emily’s story isn’t over, but if it is, what a wonderful story it has been.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ow what a wonderfully whimsical, adorable story.
I love every Emily windsnap story. They are the cutest and so whimsy.
This story again was amazing
It was so intriguing and fantatic
Emily has a wishing stone in her possession which grands her three wishes. She wants to help her friend Mandy, so she wishes to help her parents. Through this Emily travels to the future! 20 years later the land is rich and glorious where as the sea is in ruin. Emily has no clue what has hapoend, she is 33 and a teacher in this strange place. Shona isn't her friend anymore due abandonment.
That night she has a strange dream. She is being dragged by the same current which landed her in the future in the first place. Emily is back in the 'present' the same first day of school . PT
She makes another wish, this time to ensure her friendship with Shona and to save the sea.
So this time when she travels to the future, the sea is beautifully healthy and glorious, but the land is being destroyed by Midas. Emily is the mayor and has lost her friendship with mandy.
She meets Millie and obtains 2 pebbles and a elephant.
Emily gaves the stones to Many and Shona so when she travels back they will too.
In the 'present' again first day of school, mandy and shona both remember and due a English passage she leans that you need to full truth instead of one side of the story. Everyone needs to work together so when a teacher comes with a completion to make world changing art, presents the perfect opportunity to save the future by securing the prensent. Emily comes with the idea to let the (earth and sea) schools work together and make life art. It is a beautiful display:fishing nets and plastic to trap the mermaids. So the humans must keep the sea clean and save. Dolphins add that extra effect. Her 'wish' came true, she helped change the world and saves/secured her friendships.
Than at the end of the story, Emily uses the last wish to close yhe chasm and throws the wishing stone in it and makes it close forever. We wait for the future and when it comes it comes. We have Today. Lastly she gaves millie the 2 pebbles and elephant and tells her to one day gave them back to her 'in the future'

[ashes ➷]

A really entertaining follow-up with a totally different spin (time travel doesn't have to be science! it can be magic!) and some compelling things to explore for those of us who are homosexually inclined... And, if you're not, then it's just fun and I thought the resolution was a very sweet way to deal with a seemingly unsolvable problem.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes place shortly after New Year's Day. The story involves time travel, wishes, friendship, and forgiveness. The story goes back and forth in time and possible futures. The ending wasn't what I expected, but I liked it more than I thought I would.

[Lazy Panda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, I still love the Emily Windsnap series but I'm not a fan of science fiction.

[Sara Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Emily Windsnap series continues to get better with every book. Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time by Liz Kessler has been my favourite of the series so far. 

Emily is a fair and kind young teenager, who goes on epic adventures. The story followed a very similar storyline to the movie 13 Going On 30. Emily gets thrust into the future twice. Each time there are some positive aspects of the future and some situations that are unbearable. After the second time of turning back into her 13 year old self, she comes up with a plan to make her future what she wants it to be. She saves her friendships, the future of her community and ocean. 

This book tackles environmental issues such as plastic and garbage in our oceans. It is brought up in different ways throughout the book. The story also reminds people to enjoy and live in the day. There are many moral and good lessons for kids and teens to read, but to reveal them would give away the end of the story. 

This book was an easy and exciting read. I recommend it for parents who like to pick books with subtle good lessons for their kids. It is also great in getting kids involved in ocean activism and leading them to discover there are alternatives to plastic.

I received an electronic advanced reader copy from Candlewick Press through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own!

[AnnaLadd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone tell me if Aaron comes back. Haven’t read this series since I was eleven, but I feel I owe it to my younger self to see how it ends.

[Pam Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily was excited to receive a wishing stone from her mother's friend Millie as a Christmas gift. But what to wish for? When she notices that the Midas Company is coming to town with a promise to invest and turn everything to gold, she uses the first wish for her friend Mandy, that Midas would invest in her parents' amusement park. Her second wish is for the future of Shiprock, the underwater home of her friend Shona. The results of both wishes are Christmas Carol-like visions of the future, both disastrous for her friends and their communities. It becomes clear to Emily that everyone must work together to save their future. This is the most serious book of the series with an underlying message of saving the planet, especially from the effects of ocean junk. There is no romance in this tale to distract Emily from seeing how important both human and merfolk friendships are.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read any of the previous books in the series, so I’m reviewing this book as a stand-alone. I enjoyed this book. It’s fun to read one that has merpeople in, as I’ve not come across many before. I love the half-sunken boat where Emily and her parents live, that’s such a fun idea. I like the fact that this is not just a magical adventure, but also tackles the issues such as not fitting in and the environment. I loved the illustrations - especially the little fish between each bit of text.

Overall, this is an exciting and fun adventure that’s a bit different to the rest.

I was given a free copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

[Ana(stasia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started the series with this book when I saw it at the library, so I got some spoilers, but I think I will go back and read the old ones. The summary of the book threw me off a little. I thought it was a bad explanation, but I really liked what the book turned out to be. If I were Emily, I would've been a little disappointed that I had to see the future and I wonder if what she saw will actually happen, even though she got rid of the wishing stone. Anyway, this was a very good book and I can't wait to read the other ones.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story, it's entertaining and well written.
The world building is vivid and well thought, the cast of characters fleshed out, and the plot flows.
I didn't read other books in this series but I liked this one and it can be read as a standalone.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC COPY...although I found the time travel formula to be predictable-expected (traveling through split futures affect land or sea) however Windsnap fans will still love this adventure and the solution to the crisis on hand is truly an artistic-powerful statement, which I found to be unique!

[layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is actually probably my favourite windsnap book. we got older versions of the characters (my fav was mandy) and emily was suffering quite a bit. i call that a win in my book! this is one of the better emily windsnap stories i can deal with, but i still liked this series

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how she incorporated a real world problem into a pre-teen book. Great way to get them started early in understanding. A beautiful cover to let your imagination run wild with. I only wish there was more under water adventure.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc copy of Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time. A sweet, funny read that kids will love!

[Eileen Gillick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done! I'll say it was eerie in how it turned out for Emily this time around and not at predictable. I did like how busy the ending was. There is a lesson in climate to be learned in this book!!

[Kelsie Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably my favorite of the series besides the first one. Very neat concept and great execution. Really enjoyed this and hope to see more from this series in the future!

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This later volume has less to do with Emily’s life as a mermaid and more to do with time travel and how our decisions affect the future, though mermaid fans will find some of those elements still present. This adventure differs from the type Emily last encountered, one that involved pirates and treasure, which is briefly covered for those who aren’t familiar with the series; this departure into time travel, with less focus on mermaids and fun adventures, seems like a turn toward an older crowd of readers. Emily is in 8th grade and is dealing with her boyfriend having moved away and her best friend Mandy being angry about Emily’s double-life as a mermaid. The text is engaging and drives the plot forward; however, will young readers be interested in mid-30s Emily during the future scenes? The book does conclude with positive messages about working together to find the best solution and being aware of the negative effects of plastic on the ocean. An additional purchase for most libraries; consider where the rest of the series is popular with kids in grades 5-7.

[Kissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last book (at this time anyway?) of the Windsnap series takes Emily on adventure in different waters from her previous ones. I enjoyed the author's play on someone getting three wishes and how there's always a dark side to them, and bringing in the Groundshog Day/13 Going On 30 time travel aspect into it too. It was also a clever way of bringing awareness to how human's actions on land and sea can drastically change the environment around them. The only thing I didn't like was that we didn't get an update on what Sam and his pirate crew were up to since the events of the previous book; aside from Emily wishing she was back sailing on the ship, it felt like the pirates dropped off the face of the planet. Overall, this was a good and sometimes intense book to read.

[Read Stories · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Too much repetition and completely not subtle foreshadowing. The author writes the same thing in several slightly different sentences eg: when Emily connects the dots to figure out a solution, it's so annoying to keep on reading about how she feels a squirming in her stomach, or her brain freezing, and how she now has a hint about something, and then - "Yes! That's it!" She has an idea!- and so on and so forth.
Mandy wasn't the nicest friend and Emily was ok. Favourite character is still Shona.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read where Emily sees the outcome of 2 futures when she fixes only one friendship at a time. Seeing the first outcome after wishing to fix one friendship makes her realise she doesn’t want that future to happen so she makes another wish that counteracts the first future. After seeing both sides, neither future is looking good and she spends the 4th day of the first day back at school coming up with a plan together with Mandy and Shona where things work out well in the end... hopefully, only the future will tell

[Sarah Clemmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Groundhog Day meets 13 Going On 30! I finished this at 4 am, just like I finished Monster of the Deep in the middle of the night so many, many years ago. Except instead of adrenaline running through me, I was in tears, thankful for the happy ending and the value of togetherness I'd just witnessed, not to mention the melancholy at the fact I'd caught up in the series. I feel the conclusion satisfied yet again but can't help wanting more time with Emily, Shona, and Mandy. My expectations were met and surpassed, just like with the last few books.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Emily learns that pollution could spell trouble for Shiprock, the friends, along with their classmates, work together to stop pollution. In addition, Emily finds a beautiful stone. It came with a poem that said to make a wish. When Emily made a wish that things would be good for Shiprock, she travels into the future and sees what will happen if her and her class and Shona's class don't stop people from polluting the ocean.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book on and off, this story was okay. I liked the concept of the story line but I didn’t completely like the execution. I read someone else’s review of one of the books in the series and I have to agree with them: I liked some of the stories but I don’t like the main character, Emily. Overall, this series might be something a child/preteen would like to read.
Out of this whole series, I think I liked the ship of lost souls, that one was an interesting story to me.

🍵🍵🍵 rating.